COLOMBO - Sri Lankan police have arrested 100 Chinese nationals over an online currency scam in a string of night-time raids in and around the capital. Police said the 74 men and 26 women were arrested on Friday. "The fraud-affected people [live] in China," a police official said. "The fraud was carried out in Sri Lanka through the internet." The accused were in the country on tourist visas, he said. AFP

Suicide bomber kills provincial minister

PESHAWAR - A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed nine people including a a senior provincial minister at a political rally by a party that has opposed the Taliban. The rally in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was held by the Awami National Party. Among the dead was Bashir Bilour, a senior member of the provincial cabinet, said Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, the politician's brother and federal railways minister. AP

Think big, Kim Jong-un orders rocket scientists

SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the development of bigger rockets, state media said. He gave the order on Friday to scientists, technicians and others involved in this month's rocket launch, the Korean Central News Agency said. "You should develop and launch a variety of more working satellites, including communications satellites, and carrier rockets of bigger capacity," he was quoted as saying by the news agency. AFP

S Koreans freed by kidnappers in Nigeria

SEOUL, - Four South Korean workers kidnapped last week in southern Nigeria have been released unharmed. The Hyundai Heavy Industries workers were abducted by armed men on Monday from a construction site in the state of Bayelsa. They were freed late on Friday, a South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said. AFP

Diplomat in plea deal over domestic violence

LOS ANGELES - A US-based Japanese diplomat charged with domestic violence has reached a plea deal, reducing his maximum sentence from 20 years to one year. Yoshiaki Nagaya, vice-consul at Japan's consulate in San Francisco, was charged in May with 14 domestic violence and three assault offences, including stabbing his wife with a screwdriver. AFP